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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29195772">Sword &amp; Shield</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamofSams/pseuds/SamofSams'>SamofSams</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>D.Gray-man</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Kanda Yuu x OC, Mutual Pining, Slow Romance, Strong Female Characters, pining Kanda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:15:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,445</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29195772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamofSams/pseuds/SamofSams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Re-work and polish of my now Deleted work that shared this name.<br/>Meet Lillian, a seemingly unassuming scientist among the crowds of workers at the Black Order's HQ.<br/>There will be approximately 8 sections of this work, published in their own chunks, so chapters will be long to make up for the infrequency of posting.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sword &amp; Shield</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Tap-tap-tap-tap</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rapid knocking jolted the hyper-focused scientist from her hunched position at the desk, causing her to turn groggily towards the door. A long sigh emanated from her as she set her work back in its small tray, pushed herself up from the plush chair to stand and walk to the sizable door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes? Who is it?” Lillian called to the other side of the metal door, her voice echoing in the confined office. Her hands rested on the handle to the outside, ready to open at an acceptable response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s Lenalee! I have some coffee for you.” The sweet voice of the young woman called from the other side, muffled and metallic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lillian tugged at the massive locking mechanism,loosening it gently, then carefully hefted the thick metal door back, nearly stumbling over her kitten heels as she shuffled backwards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning dear, how are you doing?” Lillian smiled, gesturing for Lenalee to enter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two long pigtails draped down either side of her rounded face to rest over her shoulders, her shiny black hair nearly disappeared into the pitch-black Exorcist uniform that she wore. Her large eyes shone lovingly down on Lillian’s short stature as she lightly stepped inside the office and presented the last mug on her tarnished silver tray.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The white mug bore Lillian’s initials, L.S., hand written in tight cursive on the top of the cup’s handle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s been a good morning. The guys are pretty subdued right now, most of them had to pull another all-nighter. They’ll perk up in a bit once the coffee hits.” She smiled, tucked the handled tray under her arm and looked around the office.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a medium-sized room with cream-colored tile floors, fluorescent lights built into the ceiling and sterile white walls, but for one that was inset with cubby holes by the dozens. Along the long wall that held the door hung a single small tapestry of the rose cross, and in the corner sat a deep-basin sink. The wall across from the door was inset with cubby holes, all filled with small metal trays holding mechanical components. On the wall to the right of the door sat a large wooden desk, clearly weathered and beaten, but still polished with a matching chair, finished by a large frilled cushion on the seat. On the expansive surface of the desk sat a standing lamp and multiple photo frames set on the far corners of the desk. Above it on the wall were hand-drawn and meticulously inked anatomical diagrams of her golems with hand-written notes on key features. Set in the center of the room was a metal table with raised edges and a deep-set drain in the middle, clearly marking the room as a remnant of the old medical ward. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It looks so nice in here! Much better than how my brother was using it.” Lenalee commented, kneeling a little bit to look under the table, then up at the ceiling. Lillian smiled slightly, knowing exactly what Lenalee was looking for.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I spent almost a week cleaning the gunk his experiments caused off of almost every centimeter of this damn room. I didn’t think the walls were white until I took a scrub brush to them.” Lillian sighed while looking around the room, the glint in her grey eyes exuded pride at the shining office.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was it?” Lenalee asked, slightly amazed at the white walls, even running a finger over the shining surface.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was some sort of oil. Everything considered, I’m just thankful it wasn’t blood.” She sighed and took a sip of coffee. “You’ve out done yourself yet again Lenalee. If the exorcist career path doesn’t work out, you should definitely open a cafe.” Lillian relaxed into the cup and Lenalee wandered over to Lillian’s desk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The metal tray that was sat in the middle of the desk had mechanical components neatly arranged around the sides, leaving the main body of the small winged contraption in the center. Golems are the lifeline of the Black Order, the reason they can remain such an independent and secretive organization. The winged communication devices are single-handedly the most important tool in any members’ life. They are sturdy little things, but can become worn by weather, use, or being the subject of assault by the enemy. They are full of hundreds of miniscule and intricate components, making them capable of long-distance communication, flight, encrypted transmissions, voice recognition, and video-transmitting capabilities, all packed into a space the size of a golf ball. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lillian’s desktop had at its center her most recent patient, then her most important tools within arm’s reach, and beyond that lay stains in the lacquer where coffee had seeped in time and time again, then lay the photos in an arc that seemed to be beyond the reach of her arms. Black, white, and sepia held the faces of many and it seemed she kept four propped against the wall directly ahead of her, always within sight. They seemed to say ’Don’t forget what you fight for.’.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When did you take all these photos?” Lenalee looked at all of the frames, then picked one up, wide eyed. She gasped and Lillian turned her attention to the now ecstatic young woman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lillian, is this you with Ka-” Lenalee started until Lillian whipped around and quickly shushed the young woman, pointing behind their conversation to the open door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lenalee, I can explain.” Lillian whispered, set the coffee down and leaned forward checking outside to see if there were any listeners. Lillian closed the sizable door by herself, handing Lenalee her coffee, and hefting her weight against it. With a heavy metallic </span>
  <em>
    <span>thunk</span>
  </em>
  <span> the door closed and latched automatically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah damn it all, my stitches make that so much harder than it should be.” Lillian sighed, holding a hand to the bottom of her abdomen, and carefully made her way to sit in her work chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lenalee stepped forward and gave Lillian a hand to help her sit in her plush wooden chair. Once she was settled Lenalee handed Lillian the coffee from the table, a wide smile spread across her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god! So you </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> together!” She bounced on the balls of her feet and hugged the photo close, then pulled it away from her body to re-examine it. “I knew Kanda was acting strange lately! He never comes to the science division unless he’s getting a new uniform. He was coming here to visit you, wasn’t he?” Her eyes were wide with exuberance, looking down to the couple’s photo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It pictured Lillian sitting next to Kanda in a chaise lounge, sitting hip to hip with hands intertwined on their laps. Kanda wore a tight charcoal vest over his high-collared white shirt and wore slacks to match, with the rose cross pinned onto his left breast. His face was still and his eyes trained on the camera, with his long black hair pulled back into a loose braid at the back of his head, rather than his usual ponytail. His boots were tied over his slacks, and helped to give a semblance of the powerful body that lay below the fabric. Lillian had her hair up in a gibson girl hairdo, with a small bun at the back of her head and intricately guided hair that washed over her head like waves frozen in time. She wore a white button-up shirt with bishop sleeves that cuffed at her wrists, and a black skirt that cinched at her waist, showing off her hourglass figure. She had a small smile on her face, with her eyes also trained on the camera, but her body facing the man at her side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You two look so beautiful here. When was this taken?” Lenalee asked as Lillian was clearly mulling over her words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was on our way home from the Vatican. Kanda was assigned to me as a bodyguard, and the rest is history.” She said, trying to carefully word her story around the proprietary information regarding her time at the Vatican.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you two know you liked each other? Or, how did you fall for each other? When did this all start?” Lenalee asked, clearly intrigued. Lillian smiled at the younger woman, clearly enthralled in the idea of a story about love, like most girls her age would be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to need a lot of coffee to explain this all.” She sighed and wiggled slightly in her chair, adjusting the cushion under her before picking up another framed photo and handing it to Lenalee. “But, it’ll be easier to explain our convoluted history together if I start at the very beginning.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>....</span>
</p>
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